Our FIRST Loop Finished!!!

17/09/16 Day 113 (Sa). On Thursday we were only planning on driving as far as Dotswood but Mum and Dad pushed us to keep going until we drove into Townsville. When we arrived we checked out Wiki Camps so we could work out the cheapest place, closest to town. Turns out the Seventh Day Adventists run a CP in their rear paddock behind the church. It is really good too with two sets of ablution blocks and plenty of powered and unpowered sites to choose from. It is right on the river and backs straight onto the off-leash dog park. At $20/N who can complain.

Townsville from Castle Hill, QLD

Townsville from Castle Hill, QLD

Sunset at Home Hill, QLD

After setting up camp Lib and I went for a drive into town to check out the Strand. We went for a walk and dipped our toes in the ocean and felt the sand under our feet. We hadn’t seen the ocean since Darwin which was approx. 6000km’s and 7 weeks ago. The amazing thing was the temp of the ocean. Nothing like Albany I can tell you, it was like stepping into a luke warm bath. If it wasn’t for the stingers I would have been straight in.
We were told of a takeaway place that did $5 fish and chips and so we went there to buy dinner and then ate it on the foreshore overlooking the marina. Lib had ordered crumbed fish and I had ordered battered but by the time we realised we were eating each other’s meal, 75% of the fish was already eaten. HA!

Home Hill, QLD Free Camp

Yesterday Lib’s parent’s friends Pete and Marg drove done from Atherton to visit and so we met them at the Strand and then went to the Coffee Club for lunch. We spent about three hours in their company and it was good to catch up with them. Lib and I had not seen them for 4 to 5 years.

Lib and I were going to have another poke around town in the afternoon but I fell asleep on the lounge and didn’t wake up til dinner time.

This morning we went shopping with Mum and Dad to Bunnings, Myers and so forth and then returned to camp for lunch.

In the afternoon Lib and I took Dad’s car up to Mount Stuart. The clouds had rolled in and settled on the mountain top and when we got up there visibility was reduced to about 50m. Henceforth our view over Townsville was a white blanket. It was very much like being back home in the mountains except for the fact that it was still 20C up there. Afterwards we drove back to the city and on up Castle Hill which is another great vantage point at which to view Townsville with a 360 degree vista. Once we were out of the fog the temperature of the day was back up to 27C although the humidity was still at around 90%.

Little Big Mango, Bowen, QLD

It is the first time I’ve been here as a civilian and not with the Army. There are some very definite landmarks that I recognised from my trips up this way with the Army but the place has grown so much. Many of the old Townsville buildings have been torn down to make way for the new so a lot of what I remember has gone. Vale Tim’s Surf and Turf. You can never go back.

We were planning on turning north at Mount Isa and heading up to Karumba and then across to Cairns but unfortunately time and money are against us and so now we will turn south from here and slowly make our way back to NSW where I have work lined up for harvest beginning at the end of October. Hopefully we haven’t left our run too late and we will be able to catch up with some close friends and family before we head to Temora.

Horseshoe Bay, Bowen, QLD

20/09/16 Day 120 (Tu). On Sunday we left Townsville and headed south. We drove about 100 km’s where we turned off the highway at Ayr and drove out to Alva Beach. In Ayr we bought some bait and then spent a couple of hours fishing at the beach. We caught two small flathead and a female crab with eggs and so all had to be returned to the water. In the afternoon we drove into Home Hill to spend the night in their Comfort Stop. It is a free camp one street back from the main street and parallels the railway line. Well done to the Burdekin Council! Although the camping is car parking either side of the street, they provide grassed park areas with park style bench seating, toilets and hot water showers and a camp kitchen with sinks and BBQs. Along that stretch of street is also a laundromat and café. A short stroll (50m) brings you to the main street with supermarkets, hotels, chemist, newsagent and a variety of other shops. More councils should stand up and take notice of how this place is trying to entice the tourist dollar.

Whispering Ducks, Airlie Beach, QLD

Yesterday we drove into Bowen. After arriving in town and getting our bearings we checked out the Information Kiosk where the lovely lady behind the counter was informative on various activities in the area including fishing, swimming and snorkelling. They also had really nice mango sorbet for sale which we could not resist.

Barry and Judith went and checked into a CP whilst Lib and I strolled through town, bought pies for lunch and then went for a swim at Horseshoe Bay. It is a very idyllic spot. It was great to be in the ocean again.

Reel Deal, Airlie Beach, QLD

We then headed to the CP to check in and get our site before we headed back to the jetty to spend the remainder of the day fishing. I caught four small fish which all went back. I could only identify one and it was a small trevally. It was dark by the time we were heading back and that’s where our problems began. After warming Bess to running temperature, she kept stalling in reverse. The problem was that the idle was too low and when put into gear with the foot on the brake there was not enough revs to keep her going. After about four goes we got her far enough out of the carpark that we could drive forwards and it was all good from there. As we were driving up the main street of Bowen the head lights kept cutting out and I had to keep toggling the switch to get them on again. In a stretch of road approx. four hundred metres long the lights went off and on about eight times. We pulled over and had to sit toggling the switch until we found the sweet spot after which we detoured via Woolies to get a BBQ chook for tea and then headed back to the CP incident free. She did stall a couple more times as we reversed into our spot in the CP.

Airlie Beach, QLD

This morning before leaving camp I had the engine cover off Bess and adjusted the idle and today was incident free. Hopefully I don’t have to do that too many times on the way back to NSW as it is a right royal pain in the arse to get that cover off and on again. We left Barry and Judith in Bowen as they had decided to stay an extra day. We kept going south and spent the day at Airlie Beach. We drove through town on arrival and found a spot to park down near the Yacht Club and then took the dogs for a leisurely stroll back past the shops. It is very much a holiday “destination” as it’s billed as the gateway to the Whitsundays. On our way through town we passed no less than four nite clubs and at least a dozen tour booking operators. Seems to me that the tourism is targeted to the backpackers as there is plenty of signs around for backpacker accommodation, but with five CP’s in town it also caters for the Grey Nomad Army. There are plenty of people in town but not as many as you would expect in school holidays. I guess since the humidity has risen here people have started drifting further south again. We bought kebabs for lunch which we ate by the beach and then headed out to the Sea Breeze CP to spend the night. The staff here are amazingly helpful making our stay all the more pleasant. After arriving and setting up we headed over to the lagoon pool to cool off and then took the dogs for a run down on the nearby beach. On our return we wandered through the dog off-leash park which is massive but also full of big mozzies. Gotta love the great outdoors.

Airlie Beach QLD

24/09/16 Day 124 (Sa). On Wednesday morning we rang Lib’s parents to find out where they were as we needed Barry to sign a document for us. So they said they would meet us in Airlie Beach. We headed over to reception to see if I could get on a fishing charter that day or the next. There is one called Reel Deal which looked pretty good. As stated before the staff here at this park are extremely helpful and rang three charters for me but I had to wait til Thursday afternoon for a half day charter on Reel Deal and it only had one slot which was lucky for me. So we booked in to stay another two nights at a discounted rate seeing as though we had booked a charter through them.

Lib’s parents arrived later in the morning and decided that they were going to stay in Airlie with us. After they got settled in I took a bike ride to the shopping district to see if I could get some LED globes for Bess and then in the afternoon we all took advantage of the lagoon pool for a lovely dip.

Thursday morning I spent relaxing in camp with Barry whilst the girls went into Airlie Beach to do some retail therapy and Mum wanted to get Dad a present for their wedding anniversary on Friday. The fishing charter in the afternoon was great. The Whitsundays is an amazing place to be out on the water. With little wind the sea was like glass. I caught half a dozen fish but they were all undersized and had to be returned to the water. It was a small charter accommodating eight people and the crew, Chris and Wayne, were friendly and helpful. The only keepers caught were two fish by the smallest kid on the boat and were an 80 cm Coral Trout and a 40 cm Sweet Lips. Right at the end of the day one of the ladies on the charter caught massive Wobbegong Shark.

Airlie Beach, QLD

Yesterday we left Airlie Beach and drove down to Mackay where we stocked up on supplies and had lunch by the beach before heading further south to Sarina. At Sarina we turned left and headed out to the coast to spend the night at a little fishing village at Armstrong Beach. It has a dinky little CP which suits us perfectly as it is nowhere near as busy as the major tourist centres and is a nice break from all the crowds as it is currently school holidays. We had a nice long relaxing walk on the beach in the afternoon.

Woo hoo!!!

Today we finished our first loop of Australia and arrived in Rockhampton. Well done to us but more importantly, thank you Bess.

Stone Curlew, Airlie Beach, QLD

And well done, many thanks and best wishes to all the people that have supported us along the way including family and friends, old and new of which we have made many since this journey began almost 7 years ago.

When we arrived in Rockhampton we celebrated with high fives all round and then headed to a free camp right in the middle of Rocky provided by another forward thinking council. It is literally a five minute stroll to a major Stocklands Shopping centre and close to all other amenities. It is great to see more of these opening up as councils are beginning to realise how to entice more of the tourist dollar.